Ukraine and Moldova scored above the United States and several EU countries in the latest Press Freedom Index released on April 30 by Reporters Without Borders.
Both countries improved their score amid a worsening global outlook for media.
Despite the ranking, the Ukrainian government has been criticized by the EU for failing to abolish the TV Marathon, which was created in 2022 by merging all major news channels into one wartime channel under state leadership. The EU has also urged Ukraine to adopt legislation to fight the influence of vested interests on the media, ensure a competitive media market and introduce an independent regulator.
The Ukrainian authorities have also been accused of cracking down on opposition media and failing to investigate the assassinations of journalists.
In their analysis of the 2026 index, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said that Ukraine’s improved score — a climb of seven places to 55th worldwide — “stands out as a relative exception,”
The group attributed the improvement to Ukraine’s “dynamic media sector and the investigative work carried out by Ukrainian outlets to strengthen transparency in the country’s political life.”
RSF takes into account a country’s politics and economic context, sociocultural factors, the legal framework, and the safety of journalists when assigning its scores of press freedom.
Moldova also performed well, climbing four places to 31st worldwide, causing President Maia Sandu to celebrate on social media “the highest score among EU candidate countries and the only country in Eastern Europe with a ‘satisfactory’ status.”
While Ukraine and Moldova are on a positive trend, the RSF scoring system still indicates that there is more to be done.
Ukraine ranked “problematic,” the middle category, while Moldova is “satisfactory.” Above that is the “good” category, which only seven countries managed to attain for 2026.
Improvements in Kyiv and Chisinau come amid a gloomier picture overall. RSF led its publication of this year’s results by noting that press freedom had deteriorated in 100 of 180 countries.
The United States dropped seven places to 64th overall, meaning that Ukraine overtook it for press freedom this year. RSF says that attacks on journalists in the US doubled in 2025.
They mention that the White House under President Donald Trump has “censored government data, attempted to dismantle U.S. public broadcasters, weaponized independent government agencies to punish media that criticize his actions, halted aid funding for media freedom internationally, sued disfavored outlets, and applied pressure to install cronies to lead others.”
Ukraine also placed above six EU countries: Italy (56th), Malta (67th), Bulgaria (71st), Hungary (74th), Cyprus (80th), and Greece (86th), as well as Japan (62nd).
Though EU countries generally rank among the best worldwide for press freedom, RSF criticizes the “inconsistent application” of the bloc’s European Media Freedom Act. It contains provisions to protect journalists and their sources, as well as the independence of public service media.
And in the wider Eastern Europe region, the performance of Ukraine and Moldova makes for a stark contrast when set against Belarus placing 165th, Azerbaijan 171st, and Russia 172nd.
“In Belarus and Russia — which is the world’s second-largest prison for journalists and the largest for foreign reporters (all of whom are Ukrainian) — anti-terrorism and anti-extremism laws are regularly used to criminalize reporters’ work,” RSF said.